International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 26-29, 1998 / Town & Country Resort Hotel and Convention Center, San Diego, California / The Near Earth Asteroid Prospector (NEAP) has a scheduled launch date between mid- 1999 and mid-2000, and will encounter a yet to be determined near Earth asteroid (1.1 - 2.2 AU distance from Earth) some ten months later [2]. The purpose of this mission is not only to collect valuable scientific and geological data, but to also determine the value of the asteroid’s materials for possible mining and exploitation [2], [3]. The purpose of this paper is to detail frequency allocation issues and to determine possible return (space to Earth) data rates associated with deep space communications with the NEAP spacecraft.